Love Works In Strange Ways
by The Delinquent
Summary: Who would've thought that a no future delinquent and an outcast loner could love each other so much? A DuncanXGwen story. It'll become a crossover with 6teen later. Also, it'll be bumped up to M as well. :3 Read & Review, please.
1. Chapter 1

|Duncan.|

Currently, it was 9:00 am and Duncan Hawkins was enjoying one of the best sleeps of his life. See, he had been out drinking last night and after about two or three 40 ounce beers, he'd get shitfaced and stumble his way home where he could sleep throughout the whole day. However, this was not to be, since today was Friday.

"DUNCAN HAWKINS! WAKE UP!" blared throughout his room. Before the screaming had even been finished I snapped awake so violently, I fell off my bed, wrapped in the sheets.

"Courtney? What...where...how?" I stammered as I struggled to get up and locate my vocal assailant or my girlfriend, if you will. There was nobody in my room, just me.

Looking down, I located the culprit. My phone, the same phone that I kept on a small makeshift stand that I kept one of my fans on so, I could have a nice and cool breeze wafting over me as I slept. "That girl..." I mumbled angrily. She had recorded a voice message and set it as my timer so I'd wake up on time for school. It was twenty minutes before school started, that was enough time. I walked over to my closet, pulling open the door assertively due to the fact it jammed every once and a while. I grabbed one of my favorite shirts, a plain black shirt that bore the design of an evil looking skull directly in the center of the chest but, the best part was it had a built in undershirt. When the black sleeves ended, the white part picked up, making it very comfortable and warm. I took it off the hangar and threw it on the bed, as well as a pair of regular blue jean shorts. Now, off to the shower.

I didn't take a long shower, I never did, five minutes was ample time to get clean. I didn't have to wash all that hair, like a girl or anything of that nature. After throwing on my jean shorts and shirt, I went over to a hook that jut out of the wall by my closet and took my beloved off of it... My spiked dog collar. I never went anywhere without it. I caressed the metallic spikes before heading off to look for my sneakers. After about a minute of searching, I found them, one was strewn under my bed and other was on top of my desk under the notebook I 'needed' for class.

"Good, two birds with one stone." I muttered to myself groggily. I was about ready to go when I walked by a mirror in the hallway, I'm not one to care about my appearance but, I did care about one thing and that was my mohawk. It took ten excruciating minutes to finally get it to hold in place. I took a good look at my handiwork, and marveled at the thin but lengthy emerald mohawk that jut from my cranium.

I was yanked from my admiring when my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. The caller ID read 'Princess'. I immediately knew who it was and picked up the phone. "Hey, princess." I greeted. "Dunky! Are you on are your way to school yet? I better hope so. I'm already here!" replied Courtney. "Yeah yeah, I'm almost there." I lied. _"There already? Why would you want to be in that shithole so early?" _I thought to myself, I wouldn't dare say that to her, unless I wanted some pretentious lecture. I grabbed the iPod Nano I stole from some poor sap in school about a week ago, he was still clueless as to where it went, and I hurried out the door. I only had five minutes to make it to school and of course, the parents were at work so they needed the car. Shifting the notebook to my left hand, I put in the earphones and ran my finger in a circular motion looking for a good song before finally deciding to just put it on shuffle.

The song 'Freak On A Leash' by Korn filled my ears, the eerie intro causing me to give my signature smirk and I rejoiced. "Now this, this is a great song!" I exclaimed.

**"Something takes a part of me.**

**Something lost and never seen.**

**Everytime I start to believe,**

**Something's raped and taken from me... from me."**

After about a ten blocks and twenty minutes, I arrived at this putrid place. "Well, here's to another shitty day at Edmund Mann High School." I said with a devious smile before swinging open the metal double doors, announcing my usually unwanted presence.

|Gwen.|

I was rubbing the sleep from my tired eyes when my mom came in to see if I had woken up, when she saw that I was awake, she gave me a warm smile and told me breakfast was on the table. I smiled back at her before removing my comforter and getting out of bed. Yawning and stretching, I looked over at my clock, the time read 8:00. I groaned and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. As the water began to pour from the faucet, I let it run over my frame, causing my black and teal hair to glisten in the morning sun that shone through the stained glass window. After about twenty minutes, and a thorough cleaning, I exited the shower and returned to my room.

I grasped the cold brass knob and pulled open my closet door; looking for an outfit to where to hopefully, another uneventful school day. I pulled out my favorite dark blue and green long sleeve shirt that cut into a low v-neck and my favorite ebony corset. I loved corsets, they simply looked awesome. After getting those on, I threw on my favorite black skirt, stockings, and knee high boots. After brushing my hair for about a minute or so, I received a text message. It was from LeShawna.

It read: "Hey, girl! How are you doing? I just heard about what happened with Trent! Forget about him, you can do much better! You deserve someone who's gonna treat you right! :)" After reading it, I gave a slight smile and put my phone in my skirt pocket. I heard my mom calling me, telling me to eat some breakfast so, I headed downstairs to the kitchen and then it was off to school. I grabbed one of the Toaster Strudels my mom made, slung my schoolbag over my shoulder and headed out of the door.

"Bye mom, I'll be home later, around one!" I yelled since she was upstairs getting ready for work. My mom worked long hours. She'd go in at 9 am and not come home until like 1 am. I felt bad for her, but, this was something she had to do...ever since my deadbeat dad left. Just thinking about that poor excuse for a man made my lip curl in anger. No, I couldn't let that ruin my day, I took a deep breath and continued my way to school. It was still only 8:40. Good thing it took at least twenty mintues to walk to school. I took note of the slight chill in the air, the dull and cloudy October skies were my favorite, soon, it'd be time to break out the hoodies and jeans when I got home.

Finally, I arrived at my destination, Edmund Mann High School. It's not that I despised the school or the staff; I despised 97% of the students. They were sheep, doing nothing more but following trends, hating others who were different, not in an intense kind of way but, a way that alienated them from having any social life at all and that was wrong. The one that really brought my piss to a boil was one Heather Livingston, I wanted to rip her face off and nail it on the inside of my locker as memorabilia.

At around 9:10, I finally arrived at the main entrance, those familiar double doors greeting me yet again for another mundane day. I greeted some of my teachers on the first floor, giving them a fake smile before heading up to the fourth floor where my locker was located. The first person I see as I open the swinging doors to the fourth floor was Bridgette, one of my best friends, next to LeShawna. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with Heather and her cronies or Cody and his obsession. It seems for once, I was starting my morning off right.


	2. Chapter 2

A||N: Short chapter. Sorry for that but, college has been a killer. I promise the third one will be longer and better. :)

|Duncan.|

The doors bursting open snapped the security guard out of his day dream. I smirked as I watched the pudgy guard jump like a scared kitten. He already knew my name so, he didn't ask and just wrote it down, all late students had their names written down. It was supposed to scare us. As if something as feeble as detention could scare me. It was still funny to me, I even let out a small chuckle as I walked down the hallway towards the staircase. The chuckle must've gotten to the guard because he opened his fat mouth to speak.

"Mr. Hawkins, why do you even bother coming to school? When you're not absent, you're extremely late!" exclaimed the security guard.

"I come here _just_ to see you. There's no joy like walking in and the first thing I see is your fat face chowing down on some sort of fatty food, adding to your already numerous chins." I replied.

"You can't talk to me like that! Get back here this instant so, I can write you up!" fumed the security guard, his pudgy face becoming a bright shade of scarlet.

I continued to walk, ignoring his petty threats. My reply was simply to flip him the bird without even turning around. I took out my phone just to see how late I actually was. The time read 9:50. I also had a text message.

"_Please don't be from Courtney! Please don't be from Courtney! I don't need any bitching right now. Security Guard Fatass already gave me my morning dosage._" I thought to myself as I read the 'one new message' alert. I clicked on it and quickly shut my eyes, mainly to prepare myself for Courtney's impending complaining. A few seconds later, I opened my eyes, forcing myself to man up and to my pleasant surprise, the sender's name read: **Nose Ring**. This could be only one person, my best friend, Nikki Wong.

"_Dude! Where are you? I can't go another day without having someone to talk to in English class! :O_" said the text message.

As I walked down the hallway towards Mrs. Sellers' English class, I began to reply back.

"_I just got here, I'll be there in a sec. Don't get your panties in a bunch. :P_"

About two minutes later, I opened the oak door to Mrs. Sellers' class. She looked at me and simply sighed, marking me down late. I rolled my eyes and walked to my seat in the back of the classroom next to Nikki Wong; bumping fists with Geoff, Jonesy, and Jude as I went. I gave Nikki a slight hug before I sat down and put my feet up on the desk. There was only fifteen minutes left in the class anyway so, like always, I decided to do nothing. All I really did was talk to Nikki anyway.

"Just four more classes to go..." I muttered to myself before putting my arms behind my head.

|Gwen.|

"Hey Bridgette." I smiled as I walked over to her locker and gave her a big hug.

She hugged back and gave me a warm smile but, the smile faded and she gave me a concerned look. I knew what was coming, she was going to see how I've been doing after my break-up with Trent. He broke up with me over a week ago, and she was still concerned? That's why she was my best friend, she's so caring.

"How are you holding up?" she simply asked as we began to walk to our first period class, and that was History class.

"Bridge, I'm fine. It's over and done with." I replied half-heartedly. I wasn't even close to as sad and depressed I was back when he first broke up with me, mainly because I didn't know why, and still don't know. However, I was still kind of sad about the whole thing, my social life was just starting to look up too. Oh well, that'll teach me to not get my hopes up again.

"Are you sure, Gwen? You know you can always talk to me." she replied with yet another warm smile.

"I know, and I really do appreciate you caring so much." I smiled and walked into Mrs. Franklin's class since we had just reached the classroom, we were right on time.

I at one of the neatly arranged groups that consisted of four square tables. Bridgette and I sat down first, followed by LeShawna, and then by Beth. Beth wasn't really my friend but, she was indeed a sweet girl and we talked every so often.

I didn't really do much talking that class, mostly because it took until at least third period for me to fully wake up. However, it seemed LeShawna couldn't hold it in anymore and after thirty minutes of class, finally had to ask about my break-up with Trent.

"Girl, how ya feelin'?" asked LeShawna in the quietest voice she could muster.

I sighed and confessed one of the few things that nobody else but, Bridgette and I knew. I had to admit, I was subject to different mood swings about the break-up but, I was mostly okay about it.

"Sometimes, I'm either extremely sad or extremely angry, to the point where I wanted to rip his head off and carry it around on a spike." I replied.

"That's extreme!" exclaimed LeShawna who received a shush from Mrs. Franklin, mere seconds after. It gave me a slight chuckle.

"So, do you have your eye on anyone else?" added Beth excitedly.

"No! It's only been a week." I replied in disbelief. However, this didn't stop Bridgette, Beth, and LeShawna from naming possible boyfriends.

I closed my eyes and began to rub my temples as they spewed forth name after name. Today was going to be a long day after all.


	3. Chapter 3

A||N: Okay, sorry for the long delay. I'm usually very busy. Please, R&R, it's highly appreciated. :)

|Duncan.|

Finally, it was the end of a long Thursday. It was rather uneventful, in fact, it was like any other day. I didn't have a full schedule, since I actually passed some of my classes and had all the credits I needed for some classes, thanks to the tutoring of Courtney. A full day of classes consisted of eight periods, I only had five. That meant my day ended at 1:00. The only thing could even be considered semi-eventful was when Nikki, Jude, Geoff, and I were almost caught smoking a joint on the side of the school by the basketball courts. Jonesy was always jealous that we got to smoke at lunch, due to the fact he had a separate lunch period by himself. It was punishment for all the food fights and other shenanigans he's caused of the years. Classic.

My last class before getting the fuck out of this hellhole was an elective class, and that was Computer Class. If you thought that I didn't do anything in my other classes, you should see the amount of nothing I do in this class. Thankfully, Jonesy was in this class so it wasn't drop dead boring. I also talked to Noah as well, but that was usually only to make fun of someone or trade snarky remarks about the teacher.

I had my notebooks tucked under my right arm and I walked through the open door to my seat, next to Jonesy. We did our usual handshake and I took my seat, put my feet up, and turned the computer on. Jonesy and I usually only used the computers to watch funny videos on failblog and other such sites. Jonesy and I were in the middle of watching a fat woman fall of a swing when Ms. Burgos called for our attention. I minimized the window and looked up, hoping that it was something significant but, whatever she had to say usually wasn't.

"Attention class! We have a student transfering in from one of the other classes of mine. Gwendolyn Rowland." exclaimed Ms. Burgos.

Jonesy and I tried our best to hold in our laughter as Ms. Burgos' double chins jiggled furiously as she spoke. Our faces were turning read with a chuckle escaping every so often. Suddenly, Ms. Burgos snapped her head in our direction but, my head was down so, she only caught Jonesy laughing.

"Mr. Garcia! Sit over there, by yourself!" roared Ms. Burgos.

The stuttering that Jonesy spewed followed brought forth more laughter from me and the rest of the class. Next thing I know, Ms. Burgos was giving Gwen; Jonesy's old seat.

"Watch out for that one." muttered Ms. Burgos to Gwen and then pointed in my direction. As if I couldn't hear her.

I waited for her to sit before I spoke.

"Don't worry, I'm not all that dangerous." I said flatly, clearing showing that I heard what Ms. Burgos said to her.

"Oh, I know. I'm sure she was just giving you shit." replied Gwen with a smile.

"As always." I replied before getting up to bust Jonesy's balls about him getting a write-up.

For some reason, the image of Gwen smiling stuck with me for the rest of the class. It was a such a cute smile. I quickly pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind before getting up to go home. I now had to meet up with Courtney, and if she could read minds, she would've tore me limb from limb if she knew that I thought about Gwen's smile for a second.

"DUNKY! There you are!"

I slightly cringed as the high pitched voice assaulted my eardrums.

"Princess! Yeah...here I...am." I replied trying to sound as happy as possible, when all I wanted to do was go home, get something to eat, and go skateboarding with Jude.

|Gwen.|

Thank God it was almost time for me to leave. Thankfully, I didn't receive much harassment from Heather. All she did today was make a few insignificant remarks about my clothes but, I just gave her the finger and smile and went on with my day. I also didn't have to deal with Cody at all, it seems Sierra has been extra obsessive lately and that has taken all of his time. My day was like any other. Boring. The only thing that could even be considered out of the ordinary was Bridgette, LeShawna, and Beth constantly asking me every question possible about a new boyfriend. In the middle of class, I was called into the Prinicpal's office for a minor class change. I now had Computers last, instead of Math. I can end my day with an easy class. Awesome.

The class was already in session but, it seemed Ms. Burgos was waiting for me since she gave me a 'I've been expecting you' kind of look, thankfully, not the creepy kind. It seemed that I didn't talk to anybody in this class, which is fine with me.

I was dreading what was coming next. I hate that teachers somehow felt the need to introduce you to a class of students you've been going to school with for eight plus years. I stood there, as she untroduced me, with my usual unamused look. Suddenly, she began to scream at Jonesy for laughing about something, presumably Ms. Burgos' double chins. She then put me in his old seat. The seat was next to Duncan Hawkins, the bad boy. Most people would dread sitting next to him but, not me. I knew underneath his hard exterior, he was a good person. I had a feeling.

As soon as I sat, Duncan leaned over to speak to me.

"Don't worry, I'm not all that dangerous." he said flatly, clearing showing that he heard what Ms. Burgos said to me.

"Oh, I know. I'm sure she was just giving you shit." I replied with a smile.

"As always." he replied before getting up to bust Jonesy's balls about him getting a write-up.

I was going to say something else but, he got up immediately after his last remark so, I'd save it for later. I had to admit, Duncan is attractive. Without a doubt. I haven't really paid much attention to him but, I had feeling that was about to change.

I was behind Duncan as the class was being dismissed and I cringed when I heard Courtney scream her pet name for Duncan at the top of her snobby little lungs. I snickered since I could tell he cringed too. I headed down the two flights of stairs that kept me from freedom and I finally made it outside, the long walk home was almost a blessing when faced with a day at that school.


	4. Chapter 4

A||N: I figured since not that many people are reading it, I'd take a little longer to update in order to make it better. As always, R&R if you want. Peace. :)

|Duncan.|

Courtney gave me a big hug, wrapping her arms around my neck. I returned the embrace, hugging tightly around her waist before planting a big kiss on her chapstick laden lips. I wiped some of the chapstick residue off with my finger and smelled it.

"Awesome, now my lips smell like Orange Mango." I exclaimed sarcastically with a smirk.

"Duncan, you know how easily my lips get chapped in this chilly weather." replied Courtney.

She gave me that usual 'You Asshole' look that she always gives me whenever I'm even mildly sarcastic. That look was very annoying sometimes, it's like she couldn't look past the fact that I have a 'sarcastic asshole' sense of humor. I don't know, maybe the way I felt was irrational but, it still bothered me.

"Babe, do you always have to give me that look? You know I was kidding." I replied, obviously frustrated.

"What did I say about the pet names, Dunky?" she replied selfishly.

I was so close to losing my temper but, when I thought about it, I didn't want to be girlfriend-less. So, I sucked it up and calmed down.

"Right, sorry ba-Courtney." I replied, catching my error, hoping that she didn't notice. Turned out she didn't notice, I really wasn't looking for an argument or a fight.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" Courtney asked.

Funny thing about that question, was the fact that it really wasn't a question in Courtney's world. We've been together for eight months now, and I knew for a fact that she expected me to be with her 24/7. I could tell by the smug look on her face, that she expected me to say something along the lines of "Whatever you're doing tonight." or some other bullshit answer. I needed to get out of hanging with Courtney tonight. Maybe if I had some time away, I'd want to spend more time with her.

If it could actually happen, a blinding lightbulb would've appeared above my head. I'd use the thing Courtney cared about most against her... Her grades.

"Well, I figured with that Global History final coming up, you'd be swamped with studying. I also have a project that I have to work on with Jonesy for Ms. Burgos..." I replied.

I tried my best to sound as concerned as possible about schoolwork, believe me it was hard. I rubbed the back of my head, hoping she'd buy it and almost immediately she remembered that she had the Final to study for.

"Oh my god! Thanks for reminding me, Dunky! I'm going to go home and get a jump on my studying. Good luck with your project and I'll talk to you tonight, if not, I'll see you tomorrow." she exclaimed as she began to hurry off to the nearest exit.

Once Courtney was out of sight, I breathed a sigh of relief. As much as I liked that girl, she could _really_ bring my piss to a boil. I was about to head home, when I heard what sounded like somebody riding a skateboard down the hallway. I turned around to be greeted by none other than Jude Lizowski.

"Duuuuuuuuuuude! Are you still up for some skating? Or did Princess make up your mind for you?" teased Jude as he gave me a punch in the arm.

I returned the punch to his arm, but, mine was harder and he had to rub his arm in an effort to relieve the pain.

"Yes, I am still up for some 'boarding, and where is your girlfriend? You know, Star? Oh wait...she dumped you." I replied rather coldly but, I was rather annoyed at the moment. However, once I saw his facial expression change, I instantly felt bad.

"That was low, man." he replied in a defeated tone.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm just kinda pissed at the moment... You know what? I'll make it up to you! I'll buy a thirty-piece off of you today, after we tear up the Mall." I said with a big, devious grin.

Jude instantly brightened up. "You want to smoke it together?"

"Of course, man. It's no fun alone." I said.

"Do you want to head to the Mall now? I was about to head there when I saw you here." Jude replied.

"Nah, I can't. I have to go home and get my 'board. Also, I want to stop home and get something to eat." I responded.

"Sure thing, man. I'll see you there!" he exclaimed. As soon as he finished what he had to say, he was already speeding down the smooth tiled floor of the hallway towards the exit.

I watched him go and then I grabbed my bag, and headed the same way he did. As I pushed open the front doors to the school and began to head home, I grabbed my iPod from my pocket and put my earphones in.

"I'm giving in to you. Take me under, I'm giving in to you. I'm dying tonight. I'm giving in to you...Watch me crumble." I repeated the lyrics as I pushed my house key into the keyhole and opened the door to my humble abode, if you will.

Nobody was home as usual. My brother, Zane was off at college and would be home later that night. He didn't dorm due to the fact that it was too expensive and cheaper to live at home. Needless to say, Zane was the good brother. The one that Mom and Dad favored. My oldest brother, Nick, was usually never home. He had a job and chose not to go to college, he couldn't stand school. Nick is just like me, except a hundred times worse. Sometimes, I think he's the evil incarnate. He and I don't always get along due to the fact that we are so much alike but, at the end of the day, I have his back and he has mine. Mom and Dad were cops, so they were almost rarely here during the week. They had been on the force for a long time so, they were given weekends off. At that moment, I recieved a text message from my mom, saying that she and my dad had to work over time, which meant I had the house to myself. That was never anything too big with me, due to the fact I was barely home.

I proceeded to run upstairs, head into my room, and grab my skateboard from under my bed. My skateboard was literally the only thing that I knew exactly where it was in my room. I ran down the stairs, skipping a step each time and headed back out the door. Whenever I went skateboarding, I felt...good. The wind in my face and all the fact that all people that I rode by were watching me were the biggest contributors to my good feeling. As I sped down the smoothly paved streets, I saw the Galleria Mall come into view so, I added to my speed with a few push offs. I hopped off my board once I reached the seemingly forever packed parking lot.

I weaved in between the parked cars, mainly because it was like a shortcut. I pulled out my cellphone and scrolled down to the name entitled 'JEWde'. I only had this nickname for Jude due to the fact he was jewish and he didn't mind, it actually makes him chuckle everytime he sees it. I clicked on his name and waited for him to answer. After waiting for about five rings, Jude answered the phone and told me that he was at the 'Concrete Stairs' around the back. Once I got there, we greeted each other with our usual handshake. Almost immediately after we finished the very brief handshake, I was overwhelmed by the smell of weed.

"Damn man, I can smell that from hear!" I laughed, followed by me taking a nice, big whiff.

"Is it that smelly? I'm congested so, I can't smell a thing." Jude replied.

I watched as Jude transfered it from his pocket to his bag so, the smell wouldn't be as pungent. Once the paraphernalia was safely put away, we hopped on our boards and began to skate and simply have fun before we had to return to our respective 'lives'.

|Gwen.|

With my binder and other assorted books hugged tightly against my chest, I made my way down the dimly lit stairwell towards the first floor. As I came upon the large double doors that served as the entrance and exit, I gave LeShawna and Bridgette a hug goodbye before heading off in the direction of my home. Once I stepped outside, the brisk November air greeted me, it's chilly breeze made me smile. October and November were my absolute favorite months. Despite popular belief, rainy days were not _all _a Goth's favorite. I liked it cloudly but, I hate being wet. Today was the perfect mix of chilly weather and cloudy skies.

As I reached the front door to my home, I pulled out my keys and flipped through them until I reached the right one and opened the door. Once I was inside, I quickly shut the door. The temperature itself was nice but, the sudden wind that accompanied it, was not. My cheeks and nose were rosey from the cold, but the cozy heat that was flowing throughout my house eased the numbness in my face. I was about to head upstairs and take a nap but, I remembered that I had to do a sketch for art, and it was woth ten percent of my grade. I groaned knowing I had to go back out in the wind, the weather itself wasn't a problem but, this cursed wind was almost too much. Luckily, I remembered before I took undressed, all I had to do was wrap the scarf around my neck and head back out the door with my beloved sketchbook in hand.

The Galleria Mall was too far from my house to walk, so I had to take the bus. After about thirty minutes and almost falling asleep on the bus, I arrived at the Mall. The sketch I was assigned to do had to be of a certain part of the Mall that we chose. Why Ms. Gagliardi chose the Mall for us to draw is beyond me. I definitely didn't want to go in the Mall, I was bound to run into some irritating situation and I certainly wanted to avoid that at all costs. After a few moments of careful thought, I decided to go around back, this way I'd be able to avoid the bumbling morons in the Mall and nobody else would think to do the back so, mine would be unique.

As I reached the back of the Mall, I began to hear the familiar sounds of wheels rolling against pavement, as well as wood sliding against metal. Somebody was skateboarding, and right then and there, I knew what I was going to draw. I was lucky enough to find a vent that was billowing heat so, I sat in front of it and let the warmth flow through my body. I bent my knees and allowed the sketchbook and pencil to rest against my knees for a bit, but a voice soon caught my attention.

"Hey, Gwen! What brings you around these parts." asked Jude in his usual drawn out, stoner voice.

I liked Jude. He was nice and could always take a hint. Sometimes he could be a little 'dim' so to speak as well as very forgetful but, that's what smoking weed since you were thirteen will do to you.

I held up my sketchbook so he could see it and spoke. "Art class. I'm going to draw you and Duncan skating." I smiled. That's when I first noticed Duncan there, I thought Jude was alone but, it seemed Duncan had gone to take a leak or something.

"Okay, cool!" exclaimed Jude. "Be sure to get my good side."

Duncan had finally seemed to notice that I was there, or even the fact that Jude was talking to someone. He seemed lost in thought. However, he did look up at me and began to speak.

"Do you want us to do tricks or something?" he asked with a smirk.

"No, just do what you would normally do. Pretend I'm not even here." I replied, smiling back.

For some reason the smirk that he gave me, warmed me up much more then the heat blasting on my back ever could. After about an hour or two, I finished my drawing and began to head home. For some reason, I couldn't get Duncan's smirk out of my head. I barely even knew him and I just couldn't get him out of my head!

"This is crazy." I said to myself as I neared the block that I lived on.

"This is someone else's boyfriend I'm thinking about here." I continued, very conflicted with my feelings at the moment. "Well, it's okay to just be friends, right? I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it."

I was too busy lost in thought to hear the familiar sound of a skateboard nearing the same corner I was...


	5. Chapter 5

A||N: Here's Ch. 5. :) Busy as usual so, updates will be slow.

|Duncan.|

During my skating session with Jude, I had stopped to take a piss behind one of the half-pipe ramps. In the middle of my bathroom break, I heard Jude speaking to someone but, I couldn't really make out what he was saying so, I thought Ron the Rent-A-Cop was throwing us out again. I walked back over to the main area where we skate, only to see Jude speaking to Gwen.

"Lucky break." I thought to myself.

Gwen is a nice girl, and very pretty to boot, in my opinion. She wasn't like most girls around here, in fact, she's alot like my best friend, Nikki, whos awesomeness knows no bounds. Speaking with Gwen was like a relief, especially since I had to constantly listen to Courtney and her good grades along with her shitty pop music. It was either that, or strike up a conversation with Heather and her materialistic bitches. ...Yeah, no thanks.

Apparently, from what I heard from Jude, Gwen was going to draw us for her art class. I had no problem with that, I was actually pretty flattered. Out of politeness, I waved at her and she waved back. Jude and I went back to doing our thing, it was one of our best skate sessions in a while. We landed most of the tricks, practiced some new ones, and only bailed a few times. Once night fell, Jude had to head home and Gwen had already left about a half hour prior so, I decided to head home too and maybe give Nikki and Jonesy a call as well as Courtney, since she wanted me to call her tonight.

About twenty minutes later, I began to near the block I lived on. I had to admit, as much as I disliked living here, Hawthorne Avenue had it's moments. The street before it, Auburn Avenue, was on a hill so, as I skated down Auburn towards Hawthorne, I was on elevated ground and could see over the trees. The sight before me was...peaceful, to say the least. I liked how the navy blue sky contrasted so well with the bright lights from the nearby city. As I began to skate downhill towards my block, the trees reclaimed the beautiful sight before me. I smiled as I began to pick up speed, I always loved skating down this hill and the corner that I had to turn in order to get to my house, was more rounded then others so, I had more room to turn and _not_ get seriously injured from either bailing or being catapulted into a car. However, I did not expect what was going to happen next...

Literally milliseconds after I turned the corner, I see a flash of black and blue hair as well as a surprised face. I knew immediately that this was a person so, I maneuvered my skateboard so, that it would make a sharp turn. Unfortunately for me, the board shot out from under me and I landed hard on my ass. For a split second, I was furious, I was getting ready to get up and tear into whoever was walking in the middle of the street like a dumbass. However, my seething rage transformed into slight annoyance when I noticed that it was Gwen.

"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed as she ran over to see if I was okay.

I got up under my own power and turned to speak.

"What were you doing just walking in the middle of the street?" I asked in slight annoyance.

"Hm? I was crossing the street." she replied.

Of course. My dumbass had to assume she was just strolling down the middle of the street. I'd have to cover my ass, I didn't want her to think I was a dick, I mean, I am but not all the time.

"Oh, I'm sorry then. I have to admit, I did get pissed when I fell but, I really shouldn't have been going that fast." I said smiling and putting my right hand on the back of my head.

"No no, it's totally alright. I wasn't really paying attention either... I was thinking about someone..." she replied but, trailed off.

I was oblivious to the fact that she meant me but, deep down inside, I was hoping she did. I decided to make small talk, since I wasn't in any rush to go anywhere or anything like that.

"Anyway, I hope your drawing came out good, and you didn't draw me bailing like my most recent fuck up." I said with a laugh.

"Here, take a look for yourself. Besides, I don't think you can fuck up as bad as you just did." she replied teasingly, handing me the sketchbook.

"Haha, very funny." I retorted dryly before taking the sketchbook and flipping to the page with the drawing of Jude and I. Once I got to the drawing, I was amazed by how good it was. Gwen had serious talent. I was doing a simple kickflip in the drawing but, the drawing made it seem like it was so much more, I don't know how to explain it. "This amazing, Gwen. You have real talent."

"Thanks, you have no idea how much that means to me!" she exlaimed, seemingly elated.

I was about to wish her a goodnight when suddenly, out of the blue, she asked if I wanted her number so we can hang out some time. I gladly accepted and took her number down in my phone.

"Thanks! I'll definitely give you a call some time." I replied.

I was about to speak again when my phone rang. The caller ID read 'Princess'. I had to take this call, and I figured I'd do it on my way back to my house.

"I have to take this. See ya later, Gwen." I said before walking past her and waving. She waved back before going on her way.

"Hey Courtney, what's up?" I asked.

"Hey Dunky, Ugh I have more finals coming up so, I won't be able to see you again for the next few nights so, I won't be able to see you." she said but, she didn't seem like she was _too_ upset by it.

"Damn, I was looking forward to seeing you tonight but, I understand how important your grades are to you." I replied, and yes I was actually looking forward to seeing her. Courtney wasn't all bad...only mostly.

"I just wanted to let you know, Dunky. I'll talk to you later. Love you." she replied with a kissy noise at the end of her sentence.

"Love ya too, Courtney." I responded. After hanging up my phone, I sought out the location of my board and headed home. It was only like ten o'clock but, boy was I tired.

However, I still felt bad because I was slightly happy that I wouldn't be seeing Courtney these next few days, mainly because this gave me a chance to hang out with Gwen...

Those thoughts slowly slipped from my mind as I got home, dropped my skateboard in the living room, smoked a quick joint with my brother Ezra, and finally, threw myself onto my squeaky, box spring bed. I groggily slipped off my sneakers and socks and threw the comforter over me and fell into the oblivion that is sleep.

|Gwen.|

I was crossing the street when the next thing I knew, I look up and see what seemed to be Duncan almost crash into me on his skateboard. His board shot under one of the nearby parked cars. He landed hard on his ass and I bent down to see if he was okay. I knew he'd be fuming but, when he noticed me, he definitely calmed down quite a bit...which was surprising to say the least.

He and I talked for a bit, and I don't know what it was but, after he asked to see my sketchbook, and took a look at the drawing I did of him and Jude earlier, I felt some sort of connection with him. It's funny, because I **never** let anyone see my sketchbook but, I felt safe...with him. The word 'safe' doesn't really come to mind when mentioning Duncan either.

We spoke a little bit more, and suddenly, on impulse, I gave him my number. I don't know what came over me, to be honest. It was like an out of body experience, like I was watching myself do it but, was powerless to do anything about it. Duncan seemed surprised that I asked him out of nowhere but, he gladly took it down which made me feel alot better.

Duncan was about to say something else but, his phone rang and I knew instantly who it was... Courtney. To be honest, I didn't dislike her, but her treatment of Duncan was terrible. He was as tough as nails but, when it came to Courtney, he was like a meek puppy. However, it was none of my business so, I didn't bring it up, nor had any plans to bring it up in the future.

"Bye Duncan!" I replied before turning around and heading in the direction of my home.

It was really starting to get cold now, it wasn't bad when the sun was out but, boy did it really become freezing when the sun disappeared for the night. I walked a bit faster then normal and I was home in no time. My mom wasn't home yet, she wasn't due home for another three hours and my younger brother was downstairs in the basement glued to the PS3 as usual so, I grabbed a quick snack and something to drink and headed upstairs to my room, in order to add the finishing touches to the drawing of Duncan and Jude. I was beginning to get really tired and I sub-consciously began to add more detail to Duncan then any other part of the drawing, and before I knew it I was fast asleep at my desk.

Next thing I knew, my mom was shaking me awake, since I only had about twenty minutes to get ready for school; thank God it was a Friday. I woke up in a puddle of my own drool, I quickly wiped the gooey strand from my mouth and used some tissues to wipe the puddle off my desk. After spending ten minutes in the shower, I just decided that I'd be a little late. It was my senior year and I was passing all my classes with flying colors so, it wasn't a big deal. My mom had just left to drop my younger brother off at school, and after that she'd head to work for the day and night. Once I finished drying myself off, I threw on a black tanktop, black skinny jeans, and a 'Korn' hoodie.I grabbed the bagel that my mom had picked up early in the morning for me, and headed out the door into the chilly November air.

As I reached the halfway mark from my house to the school, a muffled blip resounded through my pants pocket. That meant I received a text message. A text message from Duncan? I wasn't giddy like a schoolgirl but, I was mildy excited. The excitement left me as I saw the name but, I was still happy, since it was Bridgette. The text read:

"Gwenny! Coming in 2day?"

"Yeah, just a lil late." I replied, before shoving the phone back into my pocket.

I walked through the doors of the school at around 9:20, I was about fifty minutes late, and missed my first period class. It was only gym, and I **hated** gym. I had a ridiculously light schedule of only four classes. My schedule went: Gym, Art, History, and Computers. Most others had English and Math but, I have all my English and Math credits. I arrived just in time for my art class to start.

Art class was much different then my other classes, seating-wise. In all my other classes, we sat in vertical rows but, in Art, we sat at tables and stools replaced chairs. They were uncomfortable at first but, you got used to them. In this class, my only friend was Bridgette. She and I sat in the back as well. Once we got everything settled, I took out my sketchbook to show Bridgette the drawing. She took a good look at it for a few seconds before handing the book back.

"So, what do you think?" I asked.

"It's awesome, as always. Duh. I hope you're going to college for art! Anyway, like, why does Duncan have **so** much more detail then everything else?" asked Bridgette quizzically.

In my groggy stupor, I didn't realize I had began to add more detail to Duncan due to my recent attraction to him.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I asked, even more curious than Bridgette.

I thought she was simply joking so, I took the book from her to look anyway, and noticed I had actually added more to Duncan then to anything else in the picture. He had far more detail, shading, and other such artsy things then the rest of the picture.

"Er, oh yeah... I added more detail to Duncan because of, um... it's one of those artsy things you do to make a certain part of the picture jump out at you, you know?" I replied, trying to cover up what I did sub-consciously.

"Yeah, I guess... but, why Duncan?" she asked.

"Uh, I don't know. He was the easiest to draw..." I retorted, hoping she would buy it.

Thankfully, before Bridgette could speak again, Ms. Gagliardi came over and took the picture for grading. Ms. Gagliardi complimented my work, like she usually did. I could tell she loved my artwork the most since besides Bridgette, I was really the only one who took the class seriously. I was glad that once Ms. Gagliardi took the drawing, she seemed to take the interst away from Bridgette as well who didn't bring it up again.

After my History class ended, I went to Computer class as scheduled. After getting settled and after about twenty minutes, there was no sign of Duncan or even Jonesy. I heard the other students whispering about 'What happened with Duncan?'. Instead of relying on what other people heard, I simply decided to text him to see what went on with him in school today. I hoped everything was alright.


	6. Chapter 6

|A/N| Sorry for the EXTREMELY long wait, guys. I've been having a serious case of writer's block. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to slow down even more now with updates but, rest assured, they're still coming. =) Also, sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others, I kinda lost interest around 75% through. =/

|Gwen.|

With at least five minutes remaining in class, I decided to text Duncan. I took out my phone and scrolled down to the name 'Delinquent'. The text read: "Hey Delinquent! This is Gwen. :) What happened today? You're the popular topic of discussion at the moment, just wanted to see if you were okay."

I sent the message and placed the phone back into my pocket, waiting and hoping for Duncan to reply. I knew that he wouldn't reply right away so, once the bell rang, I gathered my things, said goodbye to Bridgette and LeShawna, and began to head home. Little did I know, things were about to take a turn for the worst.

Luckily, it was unusually warm for a November afternoon, so I didn't have wear my heavy hoodie. I tucked it under my arm with my books and continued to walk. Once I finally reached the block that I live on, I noticed something unusual. My mother's car was in the driveway, she's not supposed to be home for at least another ten hours! Something must be up. However, if something was up, I didn't want to seem too concerned, especially if there was nothing wrong.

I fiddled the key into the lock and pushed open the door, once I shut the door and threw my stuff onto the nearby couch, I called for my mom.

"In here, Gwen." I heard my mother reply from the kitchen, she sounded somber and upset.

"What's the matter, mom?" I asked, being very concerned. I've never seen my mother upset or anything of the sort, she was an extremely tough woman, especially after my father decided he didn't want anything to do with the 'family' he helped create.

"I got a call from your principal today, not about you, but it was for your brother. He's failing almost all of his classes, and he's not even going to some of them..." she replied, starting to tear up.

I began to feel mixed emotions when I saw the tears well up in my mother's eyes. Sadness was one of them, obviously, since seeing my Mother distraught was always something that bothered me way more then the average person. However, I was also a bit confused, since I knew my Mother would be upset but, _this _upset, was a little out of character for her. Before I could speak, my mom continued.

"...Is it because I'm never around? Is it because I'm always at work? Do you think that he thinks I don't care? This made me realize I wish I had more time for you guys... I feel like a bad Mother." she finished before looking up at me.

I quickly sat down next to her and began to speak, hoping that I could cheer her up.

"Don't say that, Mom. I wouldn't have or want any other Mother besides you! While spending more time with you would be totally awesome, the fact that you sacrifice time with your family at work, so that Nathaniel and I can live more comfortably is the exact opposite of a bad Mother." I replied wholeheartedly, before sitting down next to my Mom and giving her a big hug.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and put on a smile, before hugging me back.

"I'll go up there and talk to him, and see what's going on." I said.

"Sure, I've always known how close you two were." she replied before getting up and grabbing her cellphone, ready to make a call back to work.

Making my way upstairs, towards my brother's room, I could hear him talking on the phone.

"No way, man. I just got a phone call home from the principal about cutting school. My Mom is really upset and I'm not gonna put her through that again, bro." he exclaimed to whoever he was talking to.

"We'll still hang out and have jam sessions, bro. It'll just have to be after school. Later." Nathaniel finished before hanging up his phone.

At the exact moment he hung up his phone, I walked through his bedroom door and plopped down on one of the lounge chairs in his room that he sat in to play video games.

"So, I hear you're cutting class, Nate?" I asked in a friendly tone. Nate and I were very close, and we trusted each other with all of our personal problems and dilemmas, even if we could help the other.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I was. I didn't really mean for it to get out of hand, it was only so we could get a jump on our jam sessions." he admitted.

"Then you realized how awesome it was to be out of school early, and you got carried away?" I replied with a smile, knowing that when I was given my schedule during the start of my senior year, i was excited for getting out at 1pm instead of 3:30.

"Yeah, pretty much." he replied with a slight chuckle. "I don't plan on doing it again... that much."

I slightly snickered when I heard him say that. "Just don't do it enough that it's noticable."

I lazily got up from the comfortable lounge chair and made my way to the door, about to go lay down in my own room, when my brother spoke again.

"Play a few rounds of Mortal Kombat later?" he asked.

"Sure thing, and I call that chair!" I replied jokingly as I left his room.

Once I reached the edge of my bed, I outstretched my arms and slowly fell backwards on to my bed. I let out a long sigh and as soon as I closed my eyes, the ring that indicated I have a text message went off. It was Duncan...

|Duncan.|

The same period Gwen had Art, I had Math. Once again, I was late for class and school, and after trolling the security guard a bit, I decided to head off to yet another boring class. Unfortunately, I remembered that it was Math class. Once the realization hit me, I groaned in protest and begrudgingly continued towards the class.

Once I reached the wretched room, I swung the door open obnoxiously and fixed my gaze upon one of my most hated people of all time, my math teacher, Mr. Canale. He saw me and the rageworthy smile spread across his infuriatingly annoying face, but I ignored it and made my way to my seat.

"Ah, right on time, Duncan! 30 minutes late as usual!" he said in fake amused tone.

"Should be used to it by now." I replied dryly, looking at the other students who saw me turn in their direction and would immediately stare back down into their notebooks.

Honestly, and I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but everybody was afraid of me. I couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing at times. I mean nobody fucked with me, ever. If they did, and managed to kick my ass, which was rare, they'd have my brothers to contend with and nobody wanted that. However, I often scared people, even when I was trying to be nice.

After about twenty minutes, I slipped into the sweet embrace of sleep. I must've started snoring because I awoke to the vile stench of Mr. Canale's breath, due to the fact he was in my face now. Apparently he was fuming due to my snoring, because the class was dead silent, but I was too groggy to notice at the moment.

"Even when not aware of it, you **still** manage to disrupt my class to no end!" screamed Mr. Canale.

"My bad.. Take a chill pill, dude..." I replied, still half asleep.

"How can two parents have such an excellent student in Ezra but, such a failure in you!" screamed Mr. Canale in fury.

When I heard him spit his venomous words in my direction, my eyes snapped open. My brow furrowed and my upper lip twitched with rage. I could feel it coming, I was going to explode with anger. I HATED being called a failure, I heard it enough from my douchebag father to the point where I could predict when he was going to say it, every time. This pansy ass bitch had NO place calling me a failure. None. Another thing that really brought my piss to a boil was being compared to my brother. Ezra had my back no matter what and also hated when I was compared to him but, I couldn't help but let it bother me. Suddenly, I began to rise from my seat slowly, until I was face to face with the motherfucker.

He backed up a little bit as I stood up, wary of what I was going to say or do.

"Care to repeat that? I didn't quite catch what you said." I spat threateningly through gritted teeth.

Mr. Canale swallowed the massive lump in his throat, his face riddled with worry but, soon manned up when he realized he was about to be embarassed in front of his whole class, and he wouldn't have that.

"I said... How can two parents have such an excellent student in Ezra but, such a fai-"

He didn't get to finish his repetition.

BAM! My fist connected with the lower part of his jaw, making it go slack and Mr. Canale slumped to the floor in a stupor.

Once my fist connected with his jaw, I knew I made a mistake. To make things worse, another teacher had been walking by and watched the events unfold.

"Mr. Hawkins! Are you out of your damn mind? Get your butt to the principal's office now!" screamed the teacher.

There was no way I was getting out of this, so I growled slightly in frustration before slowly heading off to the prinicpal's office with the random teacher following me a few feet behind.

After a few minutes or so, I reached my principal, Mrs. Horowitz's office. She was informed of what I did before I got their so, when I took the seat in front of her desk, she was already glaring daggers, even moreso then usual. I was actually slightly intimidated.

"I'm speechless, Mr. Hawkins. For the lack of a better way to say it, you've had some major fuck ups in the past but, this is by far the worst." she stated in a low, and shocked tone.

Granted, I made a mistake but, I wasn't just going to sit there and let all the blame fall on my lap.

"For the of a batter way to say it, he fucked with me first." I said with a heated intensity.

"Be that as it may, striking a member of the faculty is, obviously, not allowed." she replied sternly. "I can't believe I even have to tell you that. Also, I've already called your parents before you got here, they'll be arriving shortly to pick you up"

"Whatever." I replied dismissively. However, I was dreading my parent's arrival. Mostly my Dad's. He was just going to side with the teacher, he always did.

After about five or so minutes, my parents finally walked into the principal's office. I didn't even have to look at them to realize they were probably the most disappointed they've ever been. I got up from the computer chair, grabbed my shit, and followed my parents out to their car.

Once we reached the car, and my father started it, I sighed and layed down in the back.

"I don't even want to know what possessed you to do something so stupid, until we get home." my father spoke, clearly not joking around.

I didn't reply and decided to rest my eyes for the fifteen minutes it took to get from the hellhole to my home. I sighed again as we finally entered the house, and decided that I'd try to stealthily ninja my way up into my room. I got to the top of the stairs before my father realized I was gone and demanded I come back downstairs.

Conceding defeat, I lazily lumbered down the stairs to the living room couch and plopped down onto it, bracing for the inevitable. My mother usually stayed quiet during these sessions, only speaking up whenever my father would go off on one of his notorious tirades, which was quite often.

"Striking a teacher, and even knocking him out. This is a new low for you, Duncan. I didn't think you could sink any lower, but you have. Well done." said my father, who was still eerily calm.

His words stung but, that wouldn't keep me from defending my actions, even if they were stupid ones that I had felt were right at the time.

"Hey, he started fucking with me first, what he said was uncalled for." I retorted.

"What did Mr. Canale say?" asked my father quizzically.

I contemplated lying, due to the fact that my father would agree with the teacher, and merely reiterate what that prick said. However, I just decided to go with the truth.

"He called me a failure and compared me to Ezra, deliberately trying to start a confrontation. I didn't do a fucking thing to warrant that." I said with rising intensity but, I kept a sense of calmness as well.

I looked to my mother, to see if she had anything to say, but she didn't and then, she looked to my father, to see if he had anything to say. My father's eyes never left me, and he gave a small chuckle before speaking.

"Your actions today have done nothing to help the matter, they've only helped prove Mr. Canale and myself right!" shot back my father.

His words stung earlier, but these hurt.

"Robert, that's enough!" my mother said quietly but, still threatening.

"You know what? Fuck this." I said in a gloomy tone, before quickly picking up my skateboard and heading out the door.

"Duncan! Wait!" my mother called after me but, I continued down the street, pushing off with my foot, hoping to pick up as much speed as possible.

"Let him go, Michelle." my father said in reply. "He'll come back."

About twenty minutes later, I met up with Nikki, Jonesy, and Jude at one of the secluded beaches we hung out at. I was going to smoke and drink my anger and sadness away with my best friends, one of my favorite things to do.

As i reached the woods that lead to the beach, a thought popped into my head. I texted Gwen to see if she wanted to chill, hoping she would say yes. I had a feeling that spending time with her would make me feel better than any kind of drug or alcohol.


End file.
